That night in Millennium was fun. For once, I got to relax with the members of the clubs I helped to manage, not worrying about finances, or anything like that. Just us gals nerding out together over some video games.

At least, that's what I wanted to believe. But deep down, I knew this was gonna be the end of normal life in Millennium.

Chihiro, Utaha, and Noa left and didn't come back yet. At the time, I didn't notice, but in hindsight, I should have known they were up to something suspicious. That's in the past though.

After some time, the girls thought it would be a good idea to strip naked and march to Schale, shooting everybody they came across.

Everyone except for Aris and Yuzu, who elected to not follow peer pressure and consumed non-alcoholic beverages the entire time. And me, of course. I didn't touch my drink after my initial tasting, and nobody questioned me on it either. I thought it tasted like piss, plus I had something more important to do.

Together, Aris, Yuzu, and I managed to literally tie everyone down to their chairs. They were not happy, and started thrashing about. This kept on going for far longer than I expected; I honestly thought they would get bored of wailing a lot sooner.

Regardless, they did relent and went back to playing video games. Soon enough, everybody started falling asleep. Most of the girls there worked themselves to exhaustion trying to win at casual party games, and tiring out from the unfamiliar sensation of mild alcohol poisoning.

Again, Aris and Yuzu were the only ones left unaffected. They were talking about favorite stories in video games they've played. I decided to insert myself into this conversation.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked them.

"Of course!" Aris happily said. Yuzu nodded alongside her.

"So, how was it? We don't usually have this many people together in one spot," I asked them.

"It was fun getting to play games with everyone," Yuzu answered. "But I'm a little tired now after everything."

"Haha, yeah," I said. I empathized with Yuzu a little. Most of us at Millennium simply couldn't handle large crowds of people for a long period of time.

"I'm still good to go though!" Aris said, still bubbling with energy.

"Where do you get all that energy?" Yuzu asked her.

"I'm like the hero of an RPG! My friends are my power!" Aris replied.

"Corny, but if you say so," I said. Aris was always quite easy to figure out. She seemed to be friends with everybody in Millennium, if that was any indication of her true thoughts at the time.

"It is!" Aris said back to me. "I want to play games with everyone forever!"

Was she some kind of kid? Rhetorical question.

I sighed in response. "Yeah. Sure beats doing paperwork all day. That's the life that awaits us when we graduate…"

I suddenly realized that while I knew what most of the students at Millennium wanted to do in the present, I had no idea what their plans for the future were. So I asked them, "Do you know what you want to do when you graduate?"

Aris hummed while she thought of an answer. Failing to reach one, she just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what I'd do. That's years from now!"

I should have figured she'd say something like that. Aris didn't seem like the type to think much about the future at all. To be fair, as a first year, I didn't give it much thought either.

Yuzu said, "I want to keep making games for people to enjoy. If possible, I'd like to continue with the Game Development Department."

Also such a simple answer, but a good one at that. They were lucky to have a club that directly translated into industry skills.

Aris seemed to realize something and said, "Ooooooh! I'd like to keep making games with everyone too! That sounds like a fun job!"

I nodded. "You're already getting your feet wet in the industry. That's a perk of being a Millennium student. You're almost guaranteed to have your name attached to some cool thing when you graduate."

Yuzu asked, "What about you?"

The dreaded question came back to me. Fortunately, I did have an answer.

"I think I'd like to stick around here a little while longer. Help with the administration in Kivotos."

"Like the General Student Council?" Yuzu asked.

"Close. I deal with Schale's paperwork all the time. There's always some issue, some discrepancies, and they're always behind on something. So I'd like to help with that. Become their treasurer and manage their finances."

Aris said, "Like… do Sensei's job all the time?"

"Yes. Doing Sensei's job," I replied on autopilot. I immediately realized what I just said and added, "No! He has his own job managing the students here, but he definitely needs help with everything else!"

Aris smiled. "So you're going to be by his side! That means even when you graduate, we can still see each other!"

"No! You make it sound like I'm going to be his personal assistant! I'm… Urgh. I still have time to think about it."

Yuzu giggled. "It's okay. The future's scary, but as long as you have your party with you-"

"-You can always conquer evil!" Aris completed for her.

"That from a game?" I asked them.

"I made it up right now," Aris said.

"Huh?"

"It's a common trope of RPGs," Yuzu said. "When all the stakes are down, the hero's party always comes out on top thanks to the power of friendship."

"Except for when it doesn't, like the first Trials game," Aris said.

"Every game in the series ends like that to sell the sequels, though," Yuzu said.

Aris got worked up over this. "Yeah, and it's been 1 year since the last one came out! You're telling me there was a giant mecha hiding in the moon the entire time and then forcing me to wait 2 years to see what happens next? That's pure evil!"

Yuzu tried to calm her down. "Spoilers! I don't think Yuuka's played the games yet."

I admitted, "I don't really know what you're talking about, but I'll take your word for it."

Aris's eyes lit up. "You should play them! They're really good RPGs, and their main draw is that each game's story connects to each other. There's thousands of hours of just the story!"

"Haha, I'd love to, but I don't think I have the time to sink into that type of game."

"If you're into something shorter, we have plenty of suggestions too!"

Yuzu nodded. "You're always welcome to come visit us and play the games we have. When we're making games, none of us is playing them, and that's a bit of a waste."

"If I play games while you work, you're just going to stop working and watch me," I retorted. They'd take any excuse to slack off.

"Nuh uh!" Aris said. "We have good taste in games! Just trust us!"

I looked deep into her puppy eyes and relented. "Okay. Fine! I'll play games with you in my free time. Not that I get that much to begin with."

Yuzu sighed. "Come on, Aris. We don't have to push her."

"It's just an open-invitation! Our windows and door may be closed all the time, but our hearts are open!"

That phrase I did know. "Oh no, no, no. We are not talking about hearts here. I don't think I'm in the mood for another two hour lecture on lore right now. Just because Kotori's not awake right now doesn't mean you need to be her."

"But it gets so wild later! We haven't even talked about the second game yet!" Aris said.

Yuzu said, "We should let her play the games on her own. Those games are best experienced, not listened to."

"Oh yeah!" Aris said. "I think that's for the best too. Well, it's in our collection too, if you ever want to come over!"

"Thanks," I replied. "I'll, uh, consider it."

I scratched my head, not wanting to continue the conversation, knowing they're about to start talking about some game I had no knowledge on and keep on going.

I excused myself and walked back to my desk and opened up my bag. I took a long look at the ball I was clenching the entire conversation. A button jutted out of one side of it. One press would set off an EMP, frying all electronics in the room. I silently put it back in my bag and sealed it, not wanting to think any more about the implications.

I leaned back in my chair and wondered what the next day was going to be like. I'd surely get chewed out by Rio, but it wouldn't be the end of me. I'm quite used to being on the receiving end of angry comments, justified or not.

I didn't mind being the monster if it was for the good of the school.

In my head that day, if I had to choose between one student vs. the entire world… I'd sacrifice the entire world.

Something like that anyways. If I'm being honest, I just didn't want to get my hands dirty.

I guess Noa saw right through me.

Noa, Utaha, and Chihiro walked back into the club room together. A bit strange seeing those three together in hindsight.

"The heck happened here?" Chihiro asked, seeing the state of her underclassmen.

Aris and Yuzu walked up to the trio.

"Everyone got tired and fell asleep!" Aris answered, not tired in the slightest.

Chihiro shrugged. "Should have figured, since our group here has no stamina."

Noa split off from the group and walked towards me holding a glass of water.

"Here," she said, handing it off to me. "Take it. It'll help with hangovers."

I took it and sighed. I was tempted to refuse and say, 'No, I haven't ACTUALLY been drinking that much,' but I thought that was an excuse an alcoholic would say, so I accepted the cup. I took a gulp of the water and gave my thanks.

Noa sat down on the table and bluntly asked me, "So you're not going to do it?"

I took another gulp and responded with, "No. This entire thing is bullshit anyways. Tell Rio I said that, by the way. Why can't we just ask Schale for help?"

Noa clicked her tongue twice and giggled. "That's what I like about you. Even if you don't like to show it, you're really kind."

This unexpected compliment caught me off guard.

"Huh?" was all I could say.

"I knew you wouldn't forgive yourself if you had to make a choice to give Aris to Rio. So I'm making it for you."

Suddenly, my body felt heavy and my eyelids started closing on their own. This sensation… of falling asleep at the worst possible time. I knew this feeling.

"It was you this entire time?" I struggled to ask Noa.

"It works fast, doesn't it?" she said, ignoring my question.

I was struggling to stay awake, but I knew something bad was about to happen. I raised my voice and shouted, "Run! Get out of here!" towards Aris and Yuzu.

Noa turned around towards the group of girls who were still awake and announced to them, "Plan B!"

Utaha and Chihiro nodded. Chihiro pulled out her phone and started swiping away at something. Utaha snapped her fingers. Aris and Yuzu were understandably confused.

The pitter-patter of Eve's robotic paws clanked against the floor of the Engineering Club Room, getting closer to my position.

Noa opened up my bag, grabbed the EMP, and tossed it to Eve, who grabbed it with a retractable claw that came out of her back. She scampered across the room and tossed it into Utaha's hand.

Chihiro looked satisfied at her phone and said, "Transfer complete."

Eve fell on the ground, seemingly losing her balance, but she didn't try to get up. Almost like at that moment, she was just a lifeless machine.

Rio's blond maid, Toki, casually walked right behind Yuzu. Apparently I never noticed her enter the room. One strike to the back of Yuzu's head sent her to the floor, powering off her halo.

For the longest second, Aris just stood there in shock, unable to process what just happened. She made eye contact with me, then Utaha activated the EMP.

All lights in the room and the surrounding hallway turned off, leaving us in the pitch black.

I couldn't support my weight anymore, and I slumped down on the ground.

I heard Noa bring her face close to my ear, and heard her say. "Sorry about this. When you wake up, come to Seminar and we'll explain everything."

I don't remember anything that happened that night after this point, so I must have fallen asleep.

The day after that, on the other hand, is much more clear to me. When the balance of Kivotos changed. That's the first time I saw Rio's personal pet project, the Knight program. You Abydos students should be familiar with it.

Abydos High School

Present Day

Yuuka closely looked over the documents she had Ayane prepare. After reaching the bottom, she laid the papers down and massaged her temples.

"You did what?" Yuuka asked the Abydos students.

"I sold it as scrap metal," Ayane replied.

"Why?" Yuuka asked, this time more aggressively.

"Last month we might have struggled to pay off the interest. If there's one thing that we absolutely do not want to do, it's gain more debt than we had previously. So we had to look for a quick solution," Ayane tried to explain.

Hoshino leaned back in her chair and munched on a bag of chips. "Why are you getting so upset? I thought you said keeping it around was a bad thing."

Yuuka stared at Hoshino with her normal angry treasurer glare. "I'm not mad because you got rid of it. I'm mad because you disassembled the damn thing and then sold it off piecemeal. Do you even know how much it cost to manufacture it?"

The Foreclosure Task Force President shrugged. "Without any ammo, it might as well have been worth 0 yen, right? Wasn't it just some broken club experiment anyways?"

"1 billion. With a 'B'," Yuuka stated.

Hoshino stopped chewing on her snacks. The other task force members broke out in a cold sweat.

Serika, with a wavery voice, said, "W-well, you can't really blame us for thinking it was broken. I mean, you didn't leave us any instructions! Plus, how were we supposed to get the ammo? You can't even find that stuff on the black market!"

A nervous chuckle escaped Hoshino's lips. "Haha… My point still stands that it's worthless without the ammo. Millennium sure likes to do whacky projects without thinking about practicality, huh? Haha…"

Yuuka said, "Yeah, that's kind of their specialty."

Ayane quickly added. "Plus, where were we supposed to find a buyer in Kivotos with 1 billion in cash? That's entire country money!"

Nonomi frowned. "I don't even think my credit card goes that high."

Serika said, "I don't think ANY normal bank just has 1 billion lying around to lend as credit."

Shiroko looked as dejected as she possibly could. "I wanted to see our giant death robot in action…"

Yuuka took another look at the documents.

"Moreover… you sold ALL of the parts to one person. It wouldn't be as bad if you sold them to different people, but if that person knows how to use it, all of Kivotos is about to be in a lot of trouble."

Shiroko's eyes lit up. "If that's a problem, then the solution is to steal it back!"

Serika looked at her in disbelief. "Shiroko…" she muttered.

Yuuka grumbled. "I suppose that is an option." Yuuka groaned. "Ugh. We have to get it back. A Knight's too dangerous to leave in the hands of a singular person. No way you just find an entire Knight like that and not have any evil plans."

The speakers in the room suddenly turned on and broadcast a message.

"Would you like me to help you track down the buyer?"

Sphinx's artificially generated voice echoed through the room.

"Oh, you're back?" Hoshino asked. "I thought we turned you off."

"All this talk about our Knight has gotten me excited! I was also looking forward to seeing it in action."

Hoshino leaned forward, setting her chair on all four legs. She stood up and looked at the Foreclosure Task Force. "If you're up to steal the Knight back, raise your-"

Each member of the Foreclosure Task immediately raised one hand up.

"Okay," Hoshino said. "I guess we're doing this. Sphinx, go ahead."

"Gathering information on 「Shimoe Koharu.」 Summarizing. Relevant information: Shimoe Koharu is a first-year student at Trinity General School, and is a member of the Justice Task Force."

A projector from the ceiling projected an image of a small girl with pink twintails onto a blank canvas.

The Foreclosure Task Force members slowly lowered their hands.

"She's a member of the Justice Task Force?" Serika asked.

"If we raided her and got caught, that would be an act of war against Trinity, wouldn't it?" Ayane asked.

Yuuka said. "Justice Task Force… We already gave Trinity one Knight. But now they'll get two? That's definitely no good…"

Shiroko tried to encourage the group. "Oh come on. I would gladly take on the entire Justice Task Force for 1 billion yen. If you wouldn't do it for 1 billion, you didn't want to do it in the first place."

Shiroko and Ayane both raised an eyebrow at Shiroko.

Nonomi looked closely at the image of Koharu and said, "Isn't that Hifumi's friend?"

Hoshino said, "Oh, Faust? Yeah, now that I think about it, she does look familiar. Hey, if that's the case, then we don't have to go as Abydos, right? We just pay her and her friend a little underground visit… Completely off the books. Heheh."

Shiroko pulled out a blue ski mask from her bag. "This marks the return of the Masked Swimsuit Gang."

The other Abydos students each produced a matching ski mask.

"Oooooh, I'm excited!" Sphinx commented.

"What- what are you doing?" Yuuka asked in bewilderment.

"We're about to make some serious fucking cash, Yuuka," Hoshino, current acting leader of the Masked Swimsuit Gang, said. "You wanna come with?"

Yuuka observed the Masked Swimsuit Gang's enthusiasm. They really seemed too enthusiastic about this. Yuuka was hesitant to answer.

Hoshino actually backpedaled once she realized what she just said. "This is just to get the Knight back out of Trinity's hands. It's bad that they get one extra, right? This is for the greater good. The cash is just a nice side bonus. We would never commit crimes for cash, isn't that right?"

The other members of the Masked Swimsuit Gang nodded.

"Yeah!" Serika yelled out. "We have integrity! We're different from street criminals! We wouldn't steal for just cash!"

"We'd do it for 1 billion yen cash," Shiroko added.

"Yeah!" the four other members of the Masked Swimsuit Gang said in unison.

Yuuka was just a teeny tiny bit intimidated by the Masked Swimsuit Gang. She was struggling to balance her morals of being a good model student and falling into delinquency. This scheme, if successful, would make Yuuka a ton of money. Since the Knight originally came from Millennium, just like her, it seemed to her to be no different than any of Rio's embezzlement schemes. She'd be a criminal. A monster.

But long ago, Yuuka already decided that she didn't mind being called a monster if it was for the greater good.

And 1 billion yen.

"I'm in."